May the spirit and example of the Good Samaritan fill
the hearts and minds of all our citizens.
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
-----------------------------------------------------
Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They
stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away,
leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going
down the same road, and when he saw the man, he
passed by on the other side. So, too, a Levite, when
he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the
other side.”
“But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man
was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil
and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took
him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he
took out two silver coins and gave them to the
innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I
return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense
you may have.’”
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to
the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The
expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on
him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
-- Luke 10:30-37
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
-----------------------------------------------------
Here Jesus commands us to show mercy to the victims
of the culture of violence and death.
But why did the priest and Levite fail to show mercy?
Perhaps they feared that the robbers were hiding just
around the next corner to attack them. They asked
themselves, “If I stop to help this man, what will
happen to me?”
The Samaritan, however, reversed the question, and
asked, “If I don’t stop to help this man, what will
happen to him?”
In working to save the unborn, let’s not worry about
what will happen to us if we act; let’s worry about
what will happen to the unborn if we don’t.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
-----------------------------------------------------
Father, we are moved by the lesson of the Good
Samaritan, who allowed compassion to influence him
more than fear. Give us the same heart.
Grant that we may never count the cost of standing up
and speaking out for the unborn. We pray through
Christ our Lord, Amen.
BREAKING: Congress to Investigate Planned Parenthood’s Funding, Sex Trafficking Cover-Up
September 27th, 2011 | By Web Team | 59 Comments
For the first time in history, Congress has launched their own investigation into the well known abuse scandals and sex-trafficking cover-up within the walls of the nation’s biggest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood. Just seven months ago, Live Action’s undercover videos prompted the first congressional defunding of Planned Parenthood. As well as releasing evidence documenting Planned Parenthood’s sexual abuse coverup and willingness to assist child sex traffickers, our team sent the videos to Congress. The following is Live Action president Lila Rose’s statement on the pending investigation:
Contact: Kristina Hernandez, 323.454.3304,
We applaud Congress’s first concrete steps to investigate Planned Parenthood, the biggest abortion business in the nation. Last February, the Live Action team released undercover videos showing seven Planned Parenthood clinics aiding and abetting the sex trafficking of children. In the wake of the videos, the House of Representatives voted to defund the abortion giant of the over $360 million they receive in federal funds. This step by Rep. Stearns to further investigate Planned Parenthood’s abusive and lawless activities is essential to protecting victims of abuse, our young girls, and our unborn brothers and sisters.
Over the past four years, the Live Action team has been conducting national undercover investigations of abortion giant Planned Parenthood. Our undercover footage has documented the widespread cover-up of child sexual abuse in 10 different states, the aiding and abetting of child sex trafficking, willingness to commit race-based abortions, and the coercion and manipulation of women. Despite these and other crimes against women and children, Planned Parenthood continues to receive over $360 million in taxpayer subsidies each year. Americans stand with Rep. Stearns’s step to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their on-going abusive activity that endangers women, the victims of abuse and young girls.
Click here to read the Sept. 15 letter of Rep. Cliff Stearns, Investigative Subcommittee Chairman, requesting vital internal documents from Planned Parenthood in order to begin a Congressional investigation into the abortion giant.
Watch how Planned Parenthood aids and abets the sex trafficking of young girls:
The Little Baby Who Can: Rejecting Abortion in Trisomy 18
by Brad Mattes | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 9/16/11 3:27 PM
PrintEmail
Opinion 2750Share
Meet Bernadette and Phil Smith. After giving birth to seven beautiful children, the gift of pregnancy became a natural and normal part of this couple’s life.
Just when they thought their family complete, an eighth child came as an unexpected surprise. Hearing the news, the Smiths eagerly looked forward to the wonderful opportunity of welcoming another precious little one into their family.
Then came some disturbing news. According to their doctor, there was a problem with the pregnancy and Bernadette would need to see a “specialist” to explore the specifics. But the information was vague, so Bernadette and Phil were unprepared for the possibility that this pregnancy was going to be very different.
After the specialist questioned them about their health, eating habits and family history, the Smiths received news that forever changed their world. Their little baby had Trisomy 18 (otherwise known as Edward’s Syndrome). It’s a genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of a chromosome in a person’s DNA. Only half of babies diagnosed with the condition survive and have a very poor prognosis in life, so Bernadette’s “specialist” pressured them to pursue only one “choice” of action—abortion.
Cherishing the lives of each and every one of their children, Bernadette and Phil went through with the pregnancy. Their little one, whom they named Hannah, was born on June 19, 2007.
Four years later, Hannah’s story of overcoming health complications has shocked the former nurses and doctors who said the odds were stacked against her. Bernadette is now passionate about helping others face crisis pregnancies, and is even writing a book to tell about the experience of giving birth to Hannah.
The Smith family’s experience is just one example out of countless others that show many doctors think the initials MD after their name stand for “Medical Deity.” What Bernadette and Phil’s first doctor basically said was, “Since your baby might die, let’s kill her by abortion to make sure she dies.” Just stop and think of how barbaric this so-called “professional advice” is. They present intentional killing as a good and caring thing to do.
Not all doctors have betrayed the trust of their patients. There are lots of good physicians dedicated to healing and preserving life—I know many of them personally. But I can’t begin to tell you how many mothers and fathers have relayed similar advice by physicians like that given to Bernadette and Phil. This is why 90% of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in the womb are aborted. What these so-called medical professionals ignore is that all life has been given by the Creator, and it’s wrong to intentionally take their lives.
Please join me in speaking up for them when you have the opportunity. More babies will die if we remain silent.
LifeNews.com Note: Bradley Mattes is the executive director of Life Issues Institute, a national pro-life educational group. Mattes is a veteran of the pro-life cause, with over 35 years of educational, political and humanitarian experience.
Another big advance for the pro-life cause as federal law now recognizes the humanity of the unborn child in yet another way: research scientists are now banned under U.S. patent law from taking out a patent on a human being they create in the lab.
National Right to Life played a key role in getting a ban on the patenting of human beings in the new patent law.
Some scientists and the companies they work for want to clone or create “experimental human beings” that they can experiment on and perhaps earn profits from. These human embryos could be used in everything from testing medicines to gauging human sensitivity to certain cosmetics.
But a human being, no matter how small, is not a commodity. After the human research abuses in World War II, the U.S. even signed international treaties that reflect our belief that never again should a human being be used as a research subject without their consent or used solely for the benefit of another.
National Right to Life understands that the battle to build a culture of life occurs everywhere: in the halls of Congress, at the voting booth, in the thousands of local communities where we have active pro-life chapters and volunteers.
You are the key to helping us win even more victories to save human lives from the tragedy and injustice of abortion, infanticide and euthanasia! Every dollar you give to National Right to Life helps to persuade a mother to give her child life, or to convince a legislator to vote to protect the unborn, or to save lives in a thousand other ways!
You can be our indispensable support as we fight for these policies, for compassion, for life itself. Please give extra generously, as much as you can . . . as we fight as hard as we can for the lives of the innocent unborn!
President Obama isn’t just willing to go to the mat for Planned Parenthood--he’s willing to go to the bank for it too. This week, the administration decreed that if New Hampshire won’t fund the abortion giant, federal taxpayers will. After the state’s Executive Council voted to turn off the $1.8 million funding spigot, the federal government swooped in to Planned Parenthood’s rescue. “New Hampshire’s Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking if the most indebted government in the history of the world could spare a few million for their old friends at Planned Parenthood,” writes the Human Events’ John Hayward. “Of course, the answer was ‘yes.’ Sebelius spends much of her time pretending that Planned Parenthood is the only provider of women’s health services and threatening states that defund them.”
The kicker (apart from the federal government ignoring its massive debt, New Hampshire’s autonomy, Planned Parenthood’s record, and the people’s will) is that the government didn’t even try to hide its agenda. After barging in, uninvited, to protect so-called “family planning services,” HHS didn’t even attempt to find other providers. Clearly, Obama’s government has decided that Americans will fund Planned Parenthood whether they like it or not. If you have moral convictions, tough. Limited cash flow? No problem. The long arm of the government will elbow its way into any state with an unlimited supply. For this administration, it’s abortion at all costs. And in this case, that’s a little over a million dollars.
